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Clever Marketing Blog

13th August 2015

We’ve spoken before on this blog about how to utilise Twitter and Instagram, but not really touched on Vine. It’s arguably one of the lesser-known of the big social media marketing networks, and like Snapchat, its real value is often underestimated or overlooked.

In this post, we’ll take you through how you can use Vine to complement and enhance your content marketing strategy, and also some easy ways you can start using it today. So without further ado – let’s get started!

What is Vine?

Vine is a video sharing platform, which allows users to record and upload six second video clips, which play on a loop. It’s been around since January 2013, and is used by both consumers and brands alike. The largest age group of Vine users is 18-20, but it’s widely used across a range of demographics.

Why should you use Vine?

You probably don’t need us to tell you about the importance of video content. It’s the fastest growing content type, and what with the rise and rise of Youtube, Snapchat and Periscope, it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, video content is set to make up over 55% of web content by 2016. Those who don’t start putting some serious thinking and budget behind video content are likely to get left behind.

This handy infographic in the left is great for demonstrating just why Vine represents a fantastic opportunity from brands.

Here are a few key takeaways:

– an estimated 40 million people have downloaded the vine app; and more than 100 million people view Vine videos each and every month. But listen up, this is the best part: whether due to their very short length or just the popularity of the platform in general, branded vines get shared 400% more than branded videos. In fact, branded vines account for 4% of the top 100 vines.

Because of the sheer amount of users and their acceptance of branded content on this platform, Vine represents a hugely fruitful opportunity for marketers. But only if you know how to use it.

How to use Vine

The key to success on this platform is thorough planning. Like many other social networks, it’s no good creating a piece of content and throwing it out there randomly without first considering your strategy, audience and brand.

First, think about what you want your Vine to do. Can it help solve a problem? Does it offer your audience something of value, like a discount or freebie? Or perhaps you could use it to announce a new product or service, or jump on the back of a topical event or holiday. Make sure your video is branded, and sticks to your company’s specific style guide and tone of voice.

Secondly, think about what you want your customers to do immediately after watching your Vine. If you’ve used it purely to build a personality for your brand, you might just want them to visit your website to find out more about you. Use this as a call to action at the end of your video, and this will help to provide direction and purpose to your Vine and drive consumers to take the action you want them to.

Lastly – keep it simple. Your video will only last 6 seconds, so complicated themes or messages just won’t work. Stick to something that’s straightforward and easy to digest quickly. This also means you can film it time and time again until you get it perfect – 6 seconds of footage doesn’t take too much editing, after all! Just make sure you keep it light, and add some personality.

Who’s doing it right?

The brands doing well on Vine all have one thing in common; they showcase personality whilst also offering something vaguely useful to those who watch.

TakeIkea USA, for example – their stop motion style is simple yet functional – like Ikea. Their vines showcase their products, most notably their furniture and kitchenware (check out the little ice-cube tray tutorial they uploaded to celebrate 4th July – it’s one of our favourites) whilst also being quirky, cute, and not overly salesy. They’re also good at piggybacking on current events and trends – making the most of the summer and recent warm weather to promote their picnic hampers.

Samsung are another brand showing us how it’s done on Vine. Their cool tech company status means they can be a bit edgy and artistic with their Vines. They mainly use the platform to drum up excitement for new releases – utilising artsy graphics and slick editing. Their recent #Gottheshot campaign also uses hashtags and humorous stories to promote the camera on the new Galaxys6, summing up the two essential commandments of Vine. Showcase your product, bit more importantly, show some personality.

Vine was discontinued by owners Twitter on January 17th 2017. The archive of Vines is still available at https://vine.co/

If you’d like more than just a six-second video, call Clever Marketing on 020 3146 4341 or email [email protected] and we’ll be happy to discuss any web video needs that you may have.

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